Casey, brother of Ben, is best known, of course, as an actor; he has only a single directorial credit to his name — the mockumentary I’m Still Here about Joaquin Phoenix’s crack-up-but-not-really. Thunder Road Pictures, meanwhile, produced Ben Affleck’s The Town — and made the sports film We Are Marshall

Kevin Walsh and the Walsh Company are also involved in the project. Hamilton, his wife Katie and his business manager Steve Reed have requested to co-produce the film.

Hamilton, a top prospect drafted by the Rays, let an addiction to crack hamper his potential. He was suspended by Major League Baseball for violating the league’s drug and substance abuse program in 2004, was out of baseball for three seasons and was acquired by the Rangers from the Reds in 2007. Since joining Texas and using his religious faith to handle his demons, Hamilton earned the AL MVP award in 2010 and has helped the Rangers compete in the last two World Series. A season after his tossed foul ball led to the death of fan Shannon Stone, he currently leads the American League in All-Star voting.

Hamilton during his Tampa Bay stay

“I truly think this guy’s story is one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever read,” Iwanyk said in the account. “It’s also tailor-made for a movie: it has the mythic quality of The Natural, the faith-based angle of The Blind Side, and faith is a major part of our story, and the romance of Walk the Line. Casey has totally captured those elements in his take for the movie. It is an extraordinary odyssey that took him from the depths of drug addiction, estrangement from his family, and suspension from baseball to a spectacular rebirth of his life, faith, marriage and major league career.”

But will the movie have a happy ending for Rangers fans? After hitting 21 home runs in April and May, he has one in June and is batting .217 for the month. Hamilton is also in the final year of his contract with Texas and neither he nor the team has intimated that negotiations are ongoing, leaving free agency a possibility for one of the top hitters in baseball. Think the movie finale of him tipping his Yankees cap to the crowd in the Bronx will test well in North Texas?

Hamilton’s expected to be at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington this afternoon, a few hours before tonight’s game with the Colorado Rockies — and Roy Oswalt’s Rangers debut. We’ve asked the Rangers for comment; and we expect Evan will visit with Hamilton at some point this afternoon. Stay tuned. Till then: Will Ferrell (the most popular suggestion, by far) or Cole Hauser?